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EVENTS
99 Souls - 'The Girl Is Mine'
House | Monday 16th February 2015 | Nicole Breeden
A new DJ duo who mix old soul music with contemporary house are set for success after their debut single was described as “genius” by fans.
The house duo, who go by the name of 99 Souls, dropped their first single 'The Girl Is Mine' in December last year. The track samples vocals from two 90’s soul songs: Brandy and Monica’s 'The Boy is Mine' and Destiny's Child’s 'Girl', and mixes them both together into a modern party beat.
They describe themselves and their sound as a mixture of “one jazz kid and one hip hop kid who fell in love with the 4/4 kick drum”. This is what differentiates them from other artists in house music; the fact that their music is influenced by soul. According to concert promoter and publisher Peter Shapiro, the 4/4 kick drum is a bass drum best known for making up the rhythmic structure of soul music in the 70’s.
Their track seems to have been received well from the public as music lover @LenoraOfficial tweeted “This mash – up of songs is genius”. “I don’t always listen to house tunes, but when I do its 99 Souls – 'The Girl Is Mine'” added another fan Desmond Lawrence. Duncan Wallace a network producer for Capital FM said “This could be a number 1 record”. Additionally Dave Lubin, owner of house record label Mental Genius stated “All music comes from old inspirations and ideas that come around again so I support their vision”.
Following this reaction, 99 Souls confirmed that 15 of the biggest record labels including Sony and Universal, are attempting to sign them, admitting that they didn't even know there were 15 major labels. 'The Girl Is Mine' has been rapidly growing since it appeared on Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong’s feature “Essential New Tunes” late last year. After this, it reached other national radio stations like Kiss FM & Capital Xtra who alongside Radio 1 have continuously played and promoted it. Mistajam has also been all over it, saying “I'm playing a record that I think I'm the last 1Xtra & Radio 1 DJ to play”. The duo have gained over 100,000 plays on SoundCloud within a month of the record's leak, as well as reaching number 1 on the Shazam dance chart in a number of UK locations.
The track’s official release date is yet to be revealed but you can hear it live at 99 Souls' first gig, which is at XOYO on 24th February. For updates and tickets about the event follow them on Twitter.
